I went to buy a newspaper the other day and was suprised to see on the front page a photo of a very English looking Victorian street complete with pub, all submerged under water.
The quite feeble English summer has even made front page news in Nicaragua. So Nicas send you condolences.
In additionif it makes you feel any better it's been very cloudy here for some time!!
Monday, July 30, 2007
July 19th
July 19th is a national holiday to celebrate Revolution Day. This year Nicaragua celebrated 28 years since the Sandanista revolution triumfed and overthrew the Somoza dictatorship which had ruled for some 60 years.
This year the celebrations where somewhat grander than in recent years as the current ruling party, the FSLN (sandinistas), who were voted back into power at the end of 2006, where those that lead the revolution and guided it through the war years if the 1980's.
They were not going to let the party slip by quietly.
A whole host of Latin American leaders from the leftist movement were invited, and the whole affair was compared very fluidly by Rosario Murillo , the wife of president Daniel Ortega (and in thr opinion of many the driving force of the government).
Perhaps the most passionate of the evenings speeches was that of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. No matter what opions one has of Señor Chavez, his politics, beliefs or behaviour, no-one can deny that he has quite astounding presence and delivers with quite mesmorizing passion. Watching and listening to him yet again hound the U.S. and promte a united Latin America I couldn't help but think I was witnessing a small piece of history.
This year the celebrations where somewhat grander than in recent years as the current ruling party, the FSLN (sandinistas), who were voted back into power at the end of 2006, where those that lead the revolution and guided it through the war years if the 1980's.
They were not going to let the party slip by quietly.
A whole host of Latin American leaders from the leftist movement were invited, and the whole affair was compared very fluidly by Rosario Murillo , the wife of president Daniel Ortega (and in thr opinion of many the driving force of the government).
Perhaps the most passionate of the evenings speeches was that of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. No matter what opions one has of Señor Chavez, his politics, beliefs or behaviour, no-one can deny that he has quite astounding presence and delivers with quite mesmorizing passion. Watching and listening to him yet again hound the U.S. and promte a united Latin America I couldn't help but think I was witnessing a small piece of history.
Se fue la luz; Se fue el agua
(The power's gone; the water's gone)
Two comments we now hear on a daily basis........
Electricity and Water. Two things we take so readily for granted. At a flick of a switch we have power, a turn of the tap fresh water.
All of the communities where we work have access to electricity and potable water, in theory. However for various reasons much of the community of El Pochete by the school of Elba Zamora has been with out running water for 4 months, forcinug them to buy barrels of water, delivered daily on horse and cart. Similar stories are common place in most of the rural communities, some days it comes, some others not and there's nothing one can do.
For us city dwellers life has been all together more comfortable and we have not been effected by such problems. That is until recently.
Nicaragua is in the middle of an energy crisis (i.e. it hasnt the capacity to provide power to the nation) and whist it waits for help promised by Venezuela, Cuba and its new friend Iran the country is being plagued by severe powercuts, on a daily basis. We are without power for anything between three and twelve hours.
A side effect of no electricity means there is no power to power the water pumping stations so we are therefore also without water. From 7am to 6pm every day we have no running water.
Having only one of the other or neither of the two really makes you appreciate what the majority of us never contemplate in that water and power are not automatic rights.
20% of the worlds population still has no access to drinking water, 40% lack adequate sanitary facilities.......
...just something to bare in mind when the lights go out or the tap runs dry.
Two comments we now hear on a daily basis........
Electricity and Water. Two things we take so readily for granted. At a flick of a switch we have power, a turn of the tap fresh water.
All of the communities where we work have access to electricity and potable water, in theory. However for various reasons much of the community of El Pochete by the school of Elba Zamora has been with out running water for 4 months, forcinug them to buy barrels of water, delivered daily on horse and cart. Similar stories are common place in most of the rural communities, some days it comes, some others not and there's nothing one can do.
For us city dwellers life has been all together more comfortable and we have not been effected by such problems. That is until recently.
Nicaragua is in the middle of an energy crisis (i.e. it hasnt the capacity to provide power to the nation) and whist it waits for help promised by Venezuela, Cuba and its new friend Iran the country is being plagued by severe powercuts, on a daily basis. We are without power for anything between three and twelve hours.
A side effect of no electricity means there is no power to power the water pumping stations so we are therefore also without water. From 7am to 6pm every day we have no running water.
Having only one of the other or neither of the two really makes you appreciate what the majority of us never contemplate in that water and power are not automatic rights.
20% of the worlds population still has no access to drinking water, 40% lack adequate sanitary facilities.......
...just something to bare in mind when the lights go out or the tap runs dry.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
